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Llandudno and the great Orme & Colwyn bay weekend away 5th Feb 2016


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Colwyn Bay

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Another Trip out for the weekend took us to North wales where we had a Hotel in Colwyn Bay. It is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. Eight neighbouring communities are incorporated within its postal district. Established as its own separate parish in 1844 with just a small grouping of homes and farms where the community of Old Colwyn stands today, Colwyn Bay has expanded to become the second-largest community and business centre in the north of Wales as well as the 16th largest in the whole of Wales with the urban statistical area having a population of 28,992 at the 2001 census. Locally nicknamed “The Bay”. The weather was very grim as we walked along the promenade with gusts of wind and rain the likes of us English folk have not seen for a long time, be we braved the worst of the weather and made it towards the Toad Public house. After a few pints to keep the out the cold, we again braved the weather and went along the sea front towards the old pier that now lies abandoned , the Victorian Pier dates from 1990 and now lies in a poor state. There have been numiouers attempts to re-build and fund the pier but according to the website they are still having money issues with attempt to get cash from the lottery all failing. Soon after getting drenched we decided to again head for another public house to escape the cold wind, a few pints were consumed for medicinal purposes and we walked back to the hotel - however it took us a long time to get back to the hotel must have been the head wind Gail ??

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Llandudno

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The main part of the trip was to visit the seaside town of Llandudno, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community, which includes Penrhyn Bay and Penrhynside, had a population of 20,710.[2] The town's name is derived from its patron saint, Saint Tudno. Llandudno, “Queen of the Welsh Resorts”, a title first applied as early as 1864,[3] is now the largest seaside resort in Wales, and lies on a flat isthmus of sand between the Welsh mainland and the Great Orme. Historically a part of Caernarfonshire, Llandudno was formerly in the district of Aberconwy within Gwynedd.
Llandudno was a very popular holiday destination in the Victorian era due mainly to the arrival of the railways in 1848, infact the town still appears to have kept its Victorian look and feel and is kept very clean. We found a nice Cafe to have a breakfast in and soon after headed to one of the towns main attractions the old victorian pier. It was built in 1877 and stands 700m (2295ft) long, it made for a nice but cold walk and you soon notice that the pier has two entrances. On the second entrance is grand Hotel, it began construction in 1855 and lies right at the edge of the ocean, it used to belong to Butlins but they sold it on in 1998 it did look nice and I think if we return here I would like to give it a try.

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The Great Orme

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Summit of the great Orme.

The Orme stands at 207m and offers great views over the seaside town of Llandudno and into the mountains of Snowdonia national park. Its a steep walk from the town centre and with some bits we had to lean into the incline, however it was worth it, we just wished the weather would have been better. there are loads of routes to the top and in the summer if you don’t want to walk you can get the tram or even a cable car to the summit. we decided to follow the road and we soon come across the remains of a old Copper mine that was abandoned in 600BC , also it was at some point reopened by the Romans. The last of the Ore was removed in the 19th century and it is now a tourist attraction opening in March. Also you will find numerous Wells scattered around the Orme and Medieval remains of a 13th Century palace once belonging to the Bishop of Bangor. Its a shame we never had the time to walk it all however another trip will be planned later on in the year if we get time, it was a nice little break can’t wait to get back.